


A Cat Named Blue

by Julian_Albert



Category: The Flash (TV 2014)
Genre: And Barry is so in love, And he doesn't really know it, And very snarky, Cats, Julian is a darling, Just a short little fic with Allenbert and cats, Kittens, M/M, allenbert - Freeform, and his family sucks
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-04-05
Updated: 2017-04-05
Packaged: 2018-10-15 01:41:31
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,570
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10547886
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Julian_Albert/pseuds/Julian_Albert
Summary: Barry hates Julian Albert--until he rescues a box of kittens on his lunch break and vows to find them all good homes. He has a bit of trouble parting with a three-legged cat named Blue, though, and that's where the trouble starts.





	

**Author's Note:**

> This is very cheesy and I should be working on my other stuff but I did this instead because I can't commit to anything :) Please Comment. Pretty please. It's 1 am and I'm writing Allenbert fluff, I deserve a little bit of a reward for that, I think.

A Cat Named Blue 

 

Julians desk was empty. It was five minutes after his lunch break was supposed to be over, and he was nowhere to be seen. Well, good, Barry thought, I hope he was run over. He was so sick to death of hearing Julian snipe at him that he almost meant it when he thought that. Their arguing was one thing, but now the posh brit had stolen a case right from underneath him, and Singh wouldn't shut up about how efficiently he had pieced together evidence--and then Barry had gotten scolded for sourly mimicking the praise behind his back, which had lead to yet another case being handed over to Julian. It was ridiculous, and Barry had spent his entire lunch break glaring at his partners desk, grinding his teeth so hard they hurt. He couldn't even make himself eat, he was so angry. 

He had half a mind to go downstairs and complain about the mans absence, but the thought entered his mind half-formed, and was interrupted by the doors to the lab swinging open, a cold blast from the air conditioning (their lab was always significantly hotter then the rest of the building) sweeping through the room and making the hair on the back of his neck raise. Joe and Julian were elbow to elbow--which only irritated him further--and were each carrying something in their arms, their faces creased with a strange mix of excitement and worry. 

Joe had a bundle of blankets in his arms, and Julian had a soggy carboard box in his, which left a wet smear across the front of his shirt when he set it down on the floor, crouching to look inside. Joe kneeled down beside him, and said, his smile warm and affectionate, "Can't see how anyone could give the little things up. The runty one, maybe, if they couldn't afford to treat it, but the others look perfectly healthy."

Julian gasped as if he had been horrifically offended, and reached into the box to pull out the smallest kitten that Barry had ever seen. He felt like he had stepped into an alternate timeline. Julian didn't like anyone in his own species, it made no sense he would be fond of cats. Yet, there he was, crouched on the floor with a kitten cradled gingerly to his chest, his face close to its ear so that he could tell it kindly, "Don't listen to him, I think you're perfect." 

Joe didn't answer, and instead turned to Barry, his skepticism written plainly across his face as he asked him, "This is the same Julian Albert that was in here this morning, isn't it?"

"Well," Barry said, considering the man, who was ignoring both of them in favor of planting kisses on the little cats head, ignoring that it was covered in rain and was getting him wet, "This one isn't an asshole, it seems, so, no, it's not likely."

"What's that, litttle kitty? You think Allen is an unprofessional prat too? Oh, and you've only spent half a minute with him, wait until you see the way he organizes things. Then you'll see how bad I have it, working with a lump like him." 

"The cat didn't say that." Barry sneered, for some reason finding himself worried that maybe the cats did think that. 

"Yes he did, you just didn't hear it because you're over there." Julian said back, and smirked in his direction. "He also thinks you're being rude to ignore him and his siblings." 

"Shut up, it's a cat. It can't say anything."Barry snorted, feeling ridiculous for imagining it could for a second. He did edge his way closer to the box, though, to find six other kittens milling around, trodding on one anothers faces in a bid to get comfortable and warm together. It brought a smile to his face before he realized it, and a warm fluttering to his chest. He reached in and plucked one out, copying Julian to figure out how to hold it without dropping it. It felt so fragile under his palms, and he could feet every rib against his thumb as he stroked it gently. 

"I'll go see if Singh has anything we can use to feed them. He and his husband took in the last puppy we found in the street, and I bet you can use the bottles that were left over for them. I can run down to the vet down the street, too, and find out what sort of formula they can have." Joe said, and used Barrys shoulder as a brace as he got to his feet. 

"Wait, aren't we going to call animal control to come and pick them up? That's what we usually do when we find strays." Barry called after him as he got to the door, though at the idea of putting the kitten down his heart clenched, and he tightened his grip ever so slightly on the kitten. Joe just smirked at him and glanced at Julian before he ducked out of the room. Barry followed his gaze, and kept staring even after Joe had disappeared from view, because, of all things, Julian was blushing. Barry had never seen him do that before, and he couldn't stop staring at the flares of pink that sat high on the mans cheeks. 

"He doesn't mean you're going to keep them?" 

He was rewarded when Julians face went darker, and he hitched the kitten up higher on his chest so that he could grab another, cradling them each in a hand as he admitted, "Well, no. I'm going to take care of them until they're older, and then I'm going to find them each a good home to go to."

"God, you're so sentimental I could puke." Barry teased, though his veins were buzzing faintly at how sweet an image he created. It made it awfully hard to stay angry with him when he was rescuing kittens. The fact that he was embarrassed about it made him warm to the man even more, too, which he wished he would stop doing, because while this side of Julian seemed alright, he knew the other was a complete case-stealing asshole. 

"A shelter wouldn't take care of them like I can. They have tons of pets to look after, my ca--the cats could get neglected." Julian corrected, and directed his face towards the box so that Barry couldn't see his expression. 

"Your cats, eh, Julian?"

"That's not what I meant."

"You know, this actually makes sense. You hate people because they have the capability of telling you how obnoxious you are, but animals can't do that. They just have to suffer in silence." Barry teased, and Julian glared at him. 

"There are words I could say to that, Allen, but it would be inappropriate to repeat them around little ears." 

Barry laughed so hard at that he had to put his cat back into the box because he was scared he would shake her too much with his laughing. Once he settled, he picked up a different cat, and held it gingerly in his arms, his chest pulsing painfully when it gave an exaggerated yawn and fell asleep, tiny body vibrating as it purred. 

"Look at that, you're so boring you put it right to sleep." Julian muttered, but Barry was too taken with the little creatures to pay attention anymore. 

They spent the next few hours trading quiet insults, though without much bite to them, and rotating cats in and out of the box--aside from the first one Julian had picked up, because he seemed too attached to let it go just yet. Barry didn't comment on it. 

By the time Joe came back with formula, bottles, and an assortment of fuzzy toys he had picked up from the store, Barry had almost fallen asleep with a kitten on his arms. Julian was humming under his breath to lull his kittens to sleep, and stopped immediately when Joe walked in, sheepish, with a pair of officers trailing after him excitedly. He explained, a bit awkward, "Word got around. They wanted to check up on the cats."

"Oh, certainly." Julian whispered, careful not to wake the kittens in his arms, "We've been rotating them because we don't have enough hands to hold all of them, the assistance is greatly appreciated." 

"If I knew all it took to get you to behave like a decent person was a kitten, I would have brought one to work ages ago." Barry remarked, and found that he meant it. Watching Julian react to the kittens was oddly endearing--especially the way he went about drying each one gently before handing them off, a look of worry in his eyes. 

The room was a buzz of conversation before long as officers started funneling in, and Eddie came up as well after a while to lean against the desktop beside Barry, who had moved into his office chair after his leg went numb from being on the floor so long. Julian hadn't moved an inch, the same kitten still snoozing against him. Barry tried not to stare. 

"They are rather cute, you know. I'll have to talk to Julian about bringing one home to Iris when they get old enough. You think she'd like a cat, right?" He asked, his voice low and hopeful. Barry was proud that hearing her name out of his mouth didn't cause as much of a pang as it used to. It was a dull ache now, and he could feel his body trying to forget its old affection for her. He nodded in lieu of speaking, not trusting himself not to wake the cat in his arms. Eddie beamed and patted his shoulder, musing, "Seven cats. Albert's certainly got his work cut out for him. My friend from high school had four cats, and he said it was Hell when they were small."

"Well, I hope so. You can't say Julian doesn't deserve a little hell in his life." Barry smirked, and privately rejoiced in the idea of the cats becoming a nightmare for his partner overnight. It brought a little swell of joy to his heart to imagine Julian being driven mad by a swarm of innocently destructive kittens. 

By the time everyone cleared out, every cat was fast asleep back in a fresh box--Julian had moved all his files out of it and lined it with blankets before moving the cats into it gingerly, moving the rain-soaked one to the door with a grimace. It was practically falling apart when he lifted it. 

They were both silent for a while, watching them sleep, and Barry asked slowly, "Joe said that the vet told him they need constant care. What are you going to do when you're at work?" 

"I talked to Singh when you were chatting with an officer. He said I can bring them to the lab with me until they're old enough to stay in the apartment by themselves." Julian answered, and Barry almost rolled his eyes when he realized Julian was still holding the same damn cat he had first picked up. 

"You really seem to like that one." He couldn't help pointing out, gesturing awkwardly to the kitten, who squirmed as if it knew it was being talked about. 

"He's more fragile than the rest of them, I'm just making sure he isn't trampled." Julian said, this time without embarrassment. He actually seemed worried, strangely enough. Barry didn't like it. 

"He's not that much smaller than the rest of them. I'm sure he will fare well on his own."

"It's not just that. He's...different...than the rest of them. I can connect with him." 

"How do you mean?" Barry asked, tracking the way his eyes flickered to and from Barrys face, as if he was trying to convey something without saying it. 

"He was in the corner by himself when I first found them. And he's...well..." Julian seemed to hold his breath as he finally lifted the cat off his chest for barry to see. He felt his stomach curl. He hadn't noticed before, because Julian had kept the cat so well sheltered, but the kitten was missing its bottom left leg from the knee down, and the toes were misshapen on the foot beside it. 

"Oh." Barry said, because he wasn't sure what he should say. 

"From what I could tell when I found them, he was born like this. I was going to take him to the vet to make sure it isn't painful, but I thought it could wait until I got all of them warm and dry."

"What will you do if it is painful to him?"

"Have it taken care of." Julian said, as if it was the most obvious thing in the world. 

"Do you know how expensive that could be?"

"Do you know that I don't give a damn?" Julian quipped back, and Barry could have kissed him for caring so much, which was a weird thought he almost wished he could take back as soon as he had it. Almost. And then, he really wished he could kiss him, because Julian added, so quietly Barry knew he wasn't meant to hear, "He doesn't fit in with his family. He's just like me."

Maybe Julian Albert wasn't as horrible a person as he let everyone believe he was. Maybe he was only horrible to humans, which, oddly, didn't seem so bad now that he knew the man was so kind to animals. Well, kittens, at least. Especially ones that only had three and a half legs. 

 

*********

Julian brought the kittens to the lab every day, and they quickly went from being cute to being menaces. As soon as they graduated from formula to soft food, Barry knew they were in trouble. There were seven fuzzy kitten constantly running through the lab, knocking over cups, sending paper everywhere, making the air look almost foggy with how much hair was floating in it. It didn't help that they had to be careful opening the door to leave or enter the office, or they risked a cat escaping into the precinct. 

That was what had just happened, and Barry was tripping over himself to find it, panic rising in his chest as he imagined what Julian would do to him if he found out that he had accidentally let one of the kittens loose. He barely even cracked the door, longing to let some of the cold air in, and the cat had bolted through the gap. Barry made a show of coughing and lying quickly to Julian to say he was going to the break room to get a bottle of water. Julian was too busy fishing a kitten out of his desk drawer to notice that he was even leaving. He figured he had thirty seconds to find the missing cat before Singh--

"Allen!" 

Well, he should have seen it coming. Singh had come out of his office to find the curled in the lap of a suspect, a bald, muscled man with tattoos all down his bulging forearms. Barry tried to lie and say it wasn't theirs; that the man had come in with the kitten to begin with, but he wasn't believed. He expected to be yelled at, only, Singh wasn't angry. Instead, he gave him an odd smile and said, "I think you might want to tell Albert that he's got an offer on a cat when it's old enough to be relocated."

He wasn't given the cat back until after the man had been led away, and then he had to go upstairs with his head down to admit to Julian, who was in a state of near-panic searching for her, "I have her. She escaped before I could stop her." 

Anger was rising in his face, so Barry added quickly, with a wide smile that he hoped would distract him from getting too mad, "Good news, though! Someone made an offer for her when I was down there. I mean, it was a criminal, but he was just in for petty theft, and it was only his first offense, so I figured...."

"Oh. That's great. I-I'm really happy." Julian said, and Barry stopped to stare at him. He didn't seem happy at all. His smile was tight and forced, and he had a strange glossiness to his eyes, but he turned around quickly and said with an oddly pinched voice, "Cat number four spilled your coffee while you were gone. You should get that taken care of before it spreads to your computer." 

 

**********

It was the kittens last day in the lab. They were old enough to stay in Julians apartment on their own, and, it was odd to say, but Barry thought he was going to miss them, despite all the trouble they caused. He remembered when they had named them, shortly after the incident where one cat knocked over Barrys new microscope and shattered the lens--because it always seemed to be Barrys stuff that got destroyed, but he had convinced Julian that they could joint-parent the cats while they were in the lab, so he had to take responsibility for replacing it himself. They had been calling them 'Cat number 1' through 'Cat Number 6' (Because the seventh was the one with the missing leg, and Julian always referred to him as 'my cat'), but Barry had grown tired of it, and now that they were vaguely distinguishable from one another, it only seemed appropriate to name them, especially since he kept mixing up cats number four and six. 

Since there were six numbered kittens, Julian had agreed that they could each name three. Barry had gotten stuck with two boys and a girl--the one he had let escape weeks before. Julian got the other three girls, and the last one was just going to continue being called 'Julian's cat', apparently. It fit well enough; it only ever stayed by Julians desk, and only ever let Julian pet him. Barry suspected he was being bribed with treats. 

"Alright, so the boys can be Tommy and Alfred, and the girl can be Flash, because she's so fast." Barry smirked, anticipating Julians eye-roll before it even happened. He felt privvy to some kind of private joke that he had named it after himself, but he couldn't resist the temptation. Plus, Julian had promised not to argue any of the names he picked so long as Barry didn't argue any of his. 

"I'm calling my girls something a little bit more appropriate for kittens. Although, I'll stick to the theme of keeping human names so it doesn't look tacky." Julian said, with a pointed look towards Flash the cat. Barry decided not to call him out on the criticism, because at least he wasn't fighting it. He studied the kittens for a long moment, really taking them in, and finally deemed them, "Penny, Sarah with an h, and Barry Allen Stinks for the last one."

"What--you can't name it that!" 

"We made a deal, yes i can!" 

"Then I'm changing one of mine!"

"You can't do that, you'll confuse them!"

"Don't name it that. I swear, Julian, I will open that door and let all of them escape if you do." 

"I don't see what's so bad about Sarah with an h." Julian mummbled, and Barry practically felt his eyes pop out of his head. 

"Thats not the one I meant, and you know it!"

"Oh, you don't like Penny, then?" Julian asked, with an infuriatingly innocent tilt of his head as his thumb stroked over the cats head gently. 

"I'll call your cat 'Tripod' if you don't change it now ." Barry threatened. 

"Alright, fine. We can call him 'Allen' for short." 

In the end, the name stuck, and they did call the cat 'Allen', though Julian sniggered every time he said it, likely using the cats true name in his head. They started calling Julians cat 'Blue', because Julian thought he looked sad, and the name fit, despite breaking their theme. It was such a nice thing to recall that Barry felt an awful sadness in his chest at the idea that it was his last day with them. Soon they would all be separated and living with new families, and Barry would never see them again. The thought hurt, and he kissed each one on the nose before they left with Julian in their box back to his apartment at the end of the day, trying to ignore the ache of the loss he had sustained. 

 

*********

Eddie adopted the first cat from Julian the moment she was old enough, deciding Iris would like the one with the brightest eyes, which happened to be the first one Barry had named; little Tommy. That one wasn't so hard, since at least he knew he would be able to see the cat whenever he liked, and knew it was going somewhere nice. 

He wasn't there when Julian handed over Flash to the man that had met her while in handcuffs, and Barry was careful not to mention Julians depressed mood when he told him the next day that Caitlin had decided to adopt a cat and bring it to STAR labs. It didn't cheer Julian up at all, even when he met her, being only carefully polite and civil with her as she picked 'Barry Allen Stinks' out of the bunch when she met them at Julians apartment purely because she loved the name. Barry glared at her, but was secretly glad for it. He had developed a fondness for the feline. 

Alfred was the next to go, and then Penny and Sarah were adopted together by a woman that wanted to surprise her mother so she wouldn't be so lonely at home when her husband traveled overseas in the army. Julian handled all of it fairly well, and several more people came to look in on Julian's cat, Blue, but all of them were turned away empty handed. It had been two months, and the cat was almost five months old, and Barry knew without being told that Julian had made up his mind to keep the cat. Neither of them had really expected he would give the cat up; not after he had plucked him out of the box and held him against his heart for hours on end. 

Julian said that he just couldn't find the right family for him, but Barry knew the truth. He had found the right family; Julian was Blue's family. 

That was why it was such a surprise when Julian showed up at Joe West's house in tears asking for Barry on a Sunday morning. Barry hadn't been there at the time, he had been visiting Tommy--err, Iris and Eddie--and Joe had been stuck sitting at the kitchen table, trying to console a sobbing Julian Albert at eight in the morning. Apparenty, Julian hadn't been told that Barry had moved into his own apartment weeks ago, so Barry didn't show up at Joes until after eleven, since he was being texted by the man nonstop, and Julian wasn't any happier than when he appeared.

Immediately, he told Barry what had happened; his landlord had found out about Blue, and was threatening to evict him if he didn't find his cat a new home within 24 hours. 

"I can't." Julian sobbed as he got through the story to Barry, who was still standing absolutely sill in the doorway to the kitchen, not having recovered from the shock of finding Julian at Joe's house in tears. "He's my cat, I can't just--just give him up! I can't!"

"Well..." Barry hesitated, hoping Julian didn't hate what he was about to say, "I could take him. You can come over and see him any time you want. I know it won't be the same, but--"

"No, he's my cat. I can't. He doesn't let anyone else pet him, and he won't understand why I'm abandoning him. He'll think I don't love him--that something's wrong with him. I went through that with my parents, I won't let him go through--I won't--God, why can't it be as easy for me as it was for them?" Julian immediately dissolved into tears again, and Barry felt his heart drop into his stomach. Oh, this went so much deeper than Barry was prepared for. He knew Julian connected with the cat; knew he felt different and isolated, but he never imagined for a second that he thought like that. He couldn't imagine why he had ever hated Julian at all, seeing him so open and upset. 

"Move in with me." He blurted, before he could stop himself. 

Julians head shot up, and he stared at him in shocked wonder. "What?"

"I--move in with me." Barry repeated, realizing with a start that he meant it. 

"I can't just--"

"You're going to be evicted anyways, we both know you're not giving up Blue. Move in with me." 

"Are you mad?"

"Completely." Barry said, his heart feeling very much alive in his chest. 

"You want me to move in with you because I don't want to leave my cat?" 

"You agreed that we were joint-parents of the cats, didn't you?"

"Only while we were in the lab, and only because I didn't want to have to pay for it when they broke your shit." Julian said, less devastated and more bewildered, which seemed like it was a good sign, sort of. 

"Screw the lab, you agreed that we would joint-parent, and I'm not letting our son grow up in a broken home." Barry said, and at least Julian laughed when he said that. 

Then he stopped laughing when he saw the look on Barry's face. "You're being serious. You want me to move in with you. I--You'll regret it."

"No, I won't." Barry promised, struck by how true it was; how monumental the moment felt, "I can't; not if you're there." 

Julian kissed him, hard. 

*****

So, Julian and Blue moved in. And Julian had a ridiculous amount of cat toys and cat trees--most of which Blue didn't even use, but that littered their shared apartment anyways, and Blue learned to like Barry as much as he liked Julian. They had been together for three months, and Blue was more of a cat now than a kitten, and Julian was more like a boyfriend than anyone else had ever been. It was comfortable, and easy, like he was never meant to do anything but come home to him.

Julian hardly blinked when Barry admitted to being the flash, just rolled his eyes and complained, "That's not fair, you got to have two of the cats named after you. We should have named one after me." 

Barry responded with the first words that come to his mind, blurting sincerely, "I love you." 

And Julian, though he would never admit to it, feelt the hole his parents had left burning in him begin to slowly patch together at those words. It was different, hearding them from someone that meant them. Maybe he and Blue would be alright after all--maybe they had found their family in Barry Allen, who had certainly found his in them.

**Author's Note:**

> No, really, I love comments, please comment. Or drop me a request for an Allenbert fic. I'm good with either.


End file.
